Dual-purpose sealing cap for water buckets

ABSTRACT

A dual-purpose sealing cap for water buckets includes a cap body, a pulling strip and a pulling tab. The cap body is coupled on an outlet of a water bucket and has a seal lid formed on the top surface and an annular cap formed on a lower side. The annular cap has a lower rim connecting to the pulling strip through a plurality of break-off links. The pulling tab is located on a distal end of the pulling strip. The sealing cap serves dual functions, and may be coupled with water bucket tightly without loosening off and provide improved hygiene.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a dual-purpose sealing cap for waterbuckets and particularly to a dual-purpose sealing cap for drinkingwater buckets of drinking machines to provide a tightly sealing withoutbreaking off and improved hygiene and allows the water bucket to beturned easily upside down and mounted onto the water drinking machinewhen in use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With people's living standard become higher, water fountains andwaterdrinking machines have become increasingly popular. The waterdrinking machine that couples with a water bucket is especially widelyused because of its convenience and hygienic benefit.

The conventional bucket caps for water buckets are constructed in manyforms. FIG. 1 illustrates one of them that has internal screw threads tocouple with the external screw threads formed on the water outlet of thewater bucket. It is simple to fabricate and easy to use. However it hasdisadvantages, such as the water tends to spill out if the cap is loose,and dusts and dirt are prone to contaminate the drinking water throughthe leaking location. Moreover, the cap is often thrown away when thewater bucket is opened for use. As a result, the outlet is not sealedwhen the bucket is recycled. The bucket often gathers dirt inside andmakes cleaning difficult.

FIG. 2 shows another conventional cap that is widely used at present.The cap covers the bucket inlet by forced packing. While it can preventbreaking off during transportation, it is difficult to open when in use.And the water bucket could be toppled if opening of the cap is not beingdone properly. The problems of dirt contamination and bucket cleaningmentioned above also remain unresolved. FIG. 3 depicts yet anotherconventional bucket cap that is sealed on the water outlet and has apulling tap on the bottom end. The cap may be opened and removed bypulling the pulling tab along a preset shearing line around the cap.However, such a structure is difficult to mount the water bucket ontothe drinking machine when the cap is removed, and water spill oftenhappens during mounting.

FIG. 4 illustrates still another bucket cap that has a seal surface on aseal plug and a duct to couple with the bucket outlet. When the waterbucket is mounted upside down onto the water tank of the water drinkingmachine, a protrusive water intake duct on the water tank rams andpushes away the seal plug to allow the water in the bucket to flowthrough the water intake duct. While it overcomes the spilling problemmentioned above, the seal plug floats in the water after having beenrammed and pushed away. It gives users the concern of water quality.

To remedy the foregoing problem, another bucket cap is introduced asshown in FIG. 5. It has an indented duct on the cap and a seal surfaceon the bottom of the duct. The seal surface is connected to an innerside of the duct through a connection rib. When in use, the seal surfaceis pushed open by a water tube, but is connected to the duct through theconnection rib without breaking loose and floating in the water.However, such a structure requires additional machining and morecomplicated mold fabrication. It has a higher cost. And the cap and thebucket outlet have to be sealed through a bulged rib.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the aforesaid disadvantages, the present invention aims toprovide a dual-purpose sealing cap for water buckets that can seal thewater outlet tightly without breaking off and offer improved hygiene andallows the water bucket to be turned easily upside down and mounted ontothe water drinking machine when in use.

The dual-purpose sealing cap according to the invention includes a capbody, a pulling strip and a pulling tab. The cap body is to seal theoutlet of a water bucket and has a seal lid on the top surface and anannular cap on a lower section that has a lower rim connecting to thepulling strip through a plurality of second break-off links. The pullingtab is located on a distal end of the pulling strip.

In another aspect, the seal lid has an annular groove formed. The bottomof the annular groove has at least one first break-off link and aconnection link to connect the seal lid and the cap body. The annularcap has an annular bulged rib formed on the peripheral inner wall. Eachsecond break-off link is bordered by apertures on two sides.

Compared with the conventional techniques, the invention retains theiradvantages, and can seal the bucket outlet tightly without breaking off,provide improved hygiene and is convenient to use. It allows the waterbucket to be mounted upside down on the water drinking machine and theannular cap may serve as an ordinary cap when in use.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages ofthe invention will be more readily apparent from the following detaileddescription, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional screwing cap.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional packing cap.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a conventional pulling cap.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a conventional water bucket coupled on awater drinking machine.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of another water bucket cap for use on awater drinking machine.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of the present invention mountingon a water drinking machine when in use.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the invention showing the pulling strip isbeing torn off.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the invention with the sealing cap beingused as an ordinary bucket cap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Please referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the dual-purpose sealing cap 1 forwater buckets according to the invention includes a cap body 10, apulling strip 11 and a pulling tab 12. The cap body 10 is formed in acap and has a lower side extended to form an annular cap 103. It has anannular bulged rib 104 formed on an inner peripheral wall to coupletightly with an outlet 20 of a water bucket 2 to prevent the sealing cap1 from loosening off. The cap body 10 has a seal lid 100 formed on thetop surface that has an annular groove 101 formed on the peripherythereof. The seal lid 100 has a break-off structure that includes atleast one first break-off link 102 and a connection link 107 on thebottom of the annular groove 101 to connect the seal lid 100 to the capbody 10. The annular cap 103 has a lower rim 105 connecting with aplurality of second break-off links 106 which are evenly spaced from oneanother and interposed by apertures 108. The annular cap 103 isconnected to the pulling strip 11 through the second break-off links106. The pulling tab 12 is located on one distal end of the pullingstrip 11 to open the sealing cap 1.

Refer to FIG. 8 for the invention used on a water drinking machine 3.The water bucket 2 is mounted upside down onto a water intake duct 31 ofa water tank 30 of the water drinking machine 3. The water intake duct31 rams and shears the first break-off links 102 to flip the seal lid100 open, and allow water 21 in the bucket to flow through the waterintake duct 31. The connection link 107 still connects the seal lid 100to the cap body 10, thus the seal lid 100 does not float in the water.

Refer to FIGS. 9 and 10 for the invention used as an ordinary bucketcap. Pull the pulling tab 12 to tear off the second break-off links 106of the cap body 10 one by one until the entire pulling strip 11 isremoved. Remove the remained sealing cap 1, water may be poured out fromthe water bucket 2 a. After use is finished, the sealing cap 1 may becoupled on the outlet 20 a as the ordinary bucket cap. When the water inthe bucket is consumed, and the water bucket 2 a is to be recycled, thesealing cap 1 may be coupled thereon continuously. Thus the interior ofthe bucket may be maintained in a clean condition.

In summary, the dual-purpose sealing cap of the invention may be tightlycoupled with the outlet of a water bucket without loosening off, andalso provide improved hygiene.

1. A dual-purpose sealing cap for water buckets comprising a cap body, apulling strip and a pulling tab; wherein the cap body is coupled on anoutlet of a water bucket and has a seal lid on a top surface and anannular cap on a lower side thereof, the annular cap having a lower rimconnecting to the pulling strip through a plurality of second break-offlinks, the pulling tab being located on a distal end of the pullingstrip; wherein the sealing cap thus formed serves dual functions and iscoupled on the outlet tightly without loosening off.
 2. The dual-purposesealing cap of claim 1, wherein the seal lid has an annular grooveformed on the periphery.
 3. The dual-purpose sealing cap of claim 2,wherein the annular groove has a connection link and a first break-offlink formed on the bottom thereof to connect to the seal lid to the capbody.
 4. The dual-purpose sealing cap of claim 3, wherein the number ofthe first break-off link is at least one.
 5. The dual-purpose sealingcap of claim 1, wherein the annular cap has an annular bulged rib formedon an inner peripheral wall thereof.
 6. The dual-purpose sealing cap ofclaim 1, wherein each second break-off link is bordered by apertures ontwo sides.